Monday, January 14, 2013

Vinyl Review - Jenn Grant - The Beautiful Wild

When I was ordering the new Whitehorse LP from Six
Shooter Records I was happy to see Jenn Grant on the roster as well. Her
new album The Beautiful Wild made a
few of the top 5 lists on Maritime Vinyl last month so I was anxious to see
what the fuss was all about.

Packaging:

The packaging has a lot of similarities to the Whitehorse LP. It was protected with the
3 mil poly sleeve rather than shrink wrap and the cover was made of the same
coarse non-gloss cardboard. Something about this coarse cardboard that just
works with me. I love it.

The same attractive style download card was included. I like
the “postcard” approach as it is just so much more collectible than the regular
dull looking matchbox download cards. Let’s face it; most vinyl collectors like
me will agree that being “collectable” is everything.

One big difference on this album over the Whitehorse was the nice gatefold cover.
However; it was lacking any inserts so it was basically a wash. This album is
lacking the lyric insert as well but at least she has all the lyrics posted on
her website www.jenngrant.com.

Label:

I am really starting to become a fan of this Six Shooter Records label. Two records
in and I am nothing but happy with both. I am glad to see that they are
pressing their new releases on vinyl and that they are really taking pride in
the packaging. If they keep this up they will be a huge contender in the vinyl
market.

Vinyl:

This album was pressed on the same shiny heavy 180 gram black
vinyl that we all love so much. I am glad Six Shooter is living up to this
standard as I love the look and feel of these heavy platters!

Sound:

This album has that low volume that I was talking about with
the Whitehorse LP. Again it gives it plenty
of room to breathe which is great. I love lots of dynamics in recordings. The
mixing and producing is great on this album.

The music:

Third release for Halifax favorite Jenn Grant. It took me a little while to get hooked on this album but it
is really starting to grow on me. I think it was just the fact that I was
coming from some more upbeat music prior and I wasn’t in the mindset for a mellower
album.

It has actually grown on me quite nicely and I find myself
playing it often. Headphone listening seems to be even better than through the
speakers if that even makes sense. There are so many different instruments
tucked into the background that just stands out so well with the headphones.

Jenn keeps the
mellow approach throughout the majority of the album but doesn’t mind mixing it
up a bit as well. A good example of this is in the song called Gone Baby Gone. I disliked this song at
first listen but find myself returning to it more than any other. Just
something about it kept me interested and made me feel like I missed something
the first time around. It is just so experimental compared to the others with a
sitar as the primary instrument, tribal type hand clapping with simple drums
and Jenn chanting the same two lines throughout. This weird little number
somehow turned into my favourite track. It was a great ending to side A.

Then when flip this album over and she is right back with
another strong number called White Dove.
The hand clapping technique usually doesn’t work well for me but she pulled it
off again on this number. White Dove mixes
up the style with a small simple horn section and backup singers similar to the
style of the Raelettes. The fast drum style with the uses of brushes rather
than sticks gives it a unique rhythm that really makes it stand out nicely.

Only downside on this album to me was the closing number, a
slow drowsy version of Survivors – Eye of
the Tiger. Sure the song gets me pumped when Rocky is beating the hell out
of Mr. T but this soft drowsy version just didn’t fit in here. Eleven great
songs and it ended with this garbage. What a shame.

Conclusion:

I definitely see how she made the top 5 lists at the end of
the year and am a little disappointed that it took me this long to find this
album. I’m especially happy that I did not give up on it after the first
listen. Some albums like this just need a few extra spins before I make an
opinion. I’m sure going to be watching Jenn Grant closely and anxiously await
her next release.